Opening attachment for cans or vessels.



v No. 758,152. BATENTED APR. 26, 1904.

S. L. SHELDON. v OPENING ATTAOHMENT FOR CANS OR VESSELS.

APPLIOATIoR mum MAR. 16. 1903.

no MODEL.

m1 W r WITNESSES I Q 11v VEN TOR @M/W%M'W THE wnms PETER: c5. mormumo.wnsmsnrm n C.

UNITED S'rlvrns- Patented April 26, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

snrn L. SHELDON, or ITHACA, NEW YO K.

OPENING ATTACHMENT FOR CANS OR VESSELS- SPECIFICATION formingpart ofLetters Patent No. 758,152, dated April 26, 1904.

Application filed March 16, 1903. 7 Serial No. 143,105. (No model.)

To all whom, it 17mg concern.-

Be itknown that I, SETH L. SHELDON, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at the city of Ithaca. in. the county of Tompkins andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOpening Attachments for Cans or Vessels, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in cans and similar vessels forpacking and storing, and is more especially directed to an at tachmenttherefor designed to facilitate the opening of cans to which theclosures thereof are sealed with a hermetic joint.

The object of the present invention is to provide an attachment of thecharacter mentioned which may be applied to cans or similar packing andstoring vessels with but slight cost and by the use of which the jointsbetween the bodies of the vessels and the closures may be readily openedto enable removal of the closures without the necessity of cutting thejoints or by the employment of anyimplement other than the attachment.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of an openingattachment which while the vessel is sealed forms a permanent partthereof, and thereby prevents loss of the attachment, but which may bereadily detached and discarded from the can or other vessel suppliedtherewith immediately upon the vessel being opened.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of an openingattachment which is so applied to the can as to open the same with aminimum degree of effort and which is designedto efiect the opening ofthe joint between the body of the vessel and the closure withoutdefacing or injuring the appearance of the closure, thus enabling thelatter to be subsequently used with the vessel for closing the same.

(Vith these general objects in view and others which will appear as thenature of the improvements isbetter understood the invention consists,substantially, in the novel construction, combination, and arrangementof parts, which will be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and pointed out in the appended claim.

While the forms ofthe invention herein I shown and described are whatare believed to be preferable embodiments thereof, it is to beunderstood that the same are susceptible ot" tion of a can provided withan opening attachment constructed in accordancewith the presentinvention. Fig. 2 is a'vertical transverse sectional view thereof. Fig.3 is a top plan view of a can, illustrating another form of applicationof the herein-described invention. view of the form shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the body of acanwhich is of the ordinary construction; but the rim of said body I isprovided with a circumferential groove 2, the latter being formed insaid rim in any suitable manner.

The numeral 3 designates an ordinary cover applied to the can-body 1 andextending over Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional the rim of thelatter to a sufficient extent to 1 and the cover 3. As beforepremised,it is the object of the present invention to provide means foropening the joint referred to without the necessity of defacing'orimpairing the can" orwithout the employment of knives for cutting'thesame, as is usual. To this end a releasingstrip 4t, preferably in theform of wireQeilthough any other form may be. employed, is seated in thegroove 2 and surrounds the rim of the body 1, and the end of said strip1 is passed through a perforation 5, formed in the rim of the body 1"adjacent to the groove 2, and is bent to form a book 6, whereby theinner end of the releasing-strip 4 is securely held in engagement withthe rim of the body 1, but by which said strip may be readily detachableand discarded from the can-body when the joint has been opened.

through and is seated within a groove 7,formed in the outer side of thebody 1 and extending obliquely to the .plane of the groove 2, and saidgroove 7 terminates in a substantially elliptical groove 8, which isalso formed in the outer side of the body 1 in order to receive afinger-loop 9, formed at the outer extremity of the strip 4. Through themedium of the grooves 7 and 8 and the fact that the extremity of thereleasing-strip 4 is seated within said grooves it will be seen thatsaid extremity lies beneath the surface of the canbody and does not,therefore, interfere with the application of labels to said body.Moreover, the sealing medium effectually holds the extremity of thestrip 4 Within the groove 7, thus preventing the entrance of air throughsaid groove and at the same time preventing removal of the extremitytherefrom. When it is desired to open the joint, the finger-loop 9 isremoved from the groove 8 and by applying pressure to said loop andpulling thereon that portion of the strip within the groove 2 isgradually pulled from said groove, which effects breaking the hermeticjoint, and this is continued until the joint around the entirecircumference of the can has been broken, whereupon the cover 3 is freeto be'removed from the body 1. When this has been accomplished, thepurpose of the releasing-strip 4: has been fulfilled, and through thedetachable connection of the inner end, by means of the hook 6 andtheperforation 5, said strip may be readily detached from the can-bodyand discarded. It will thus be seen that the joint between the cover andthe body is broken in a neat manner and without in any degree defacingor impairing the appearance of the can or the utility of the cover 3,and the latter, therefore, may be subsequently used for closing thecan-body.

In Figs. 3 and 4 is shown another application of the releasing-strip I,and referring thereto it will be observed that the cover 3 in lieu ofbeing applied to the exterior of the can-body l is set within the mouththereof, and the rim of said cover is provided with a circumferentialgroove 10, in which the releasing-strip 4: is seated. As in the formshown in Figs. 1 and 2, the inner end of the strip ipasses through aperforation 11, formed in the rim of the cover 3, and terminates in ahook 12, while the outer end of the releasingstrip 4 passes through anoblique groove 13, also formed in the rim of the cover 3, in order thatthe extremity of the strip 4 may project at the outer side of the can.This extremity terminates in a finger-loop 14:, which finger-loop, ifdesired, may also be seated in a groove of corresponding shape as inFigs. 1 and 2 in order to depress the finger-loop beneaththe surface ofthe .cover 3. form it will be noted thatthe releasing-strip i occupies aposition between the can-body 1 and the cover 3, immediately beneath thejoint therebetween, and by grasping the finger-loop 14 and exertingpressure thereon it will'be seen that the body of the strip 4: may bereadily drawn through the joint, severing the same and releasing thecover 3 from its sealed relation to the can-body 1. As in Figs. 1 and 2,after the joint has been broken the usefulness of the strip 1 hasterminated, and this may be readily detached from the cover 3 byremoving the hooked end therefrom and the strip may then be discarded.This does not afi'ect the appearance of the can body or cover, and theutility of the latter for closing the can-body is still preserved.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent, is

The combination with the body of a can or similar vessel, and theclosure thereof, one of said elements having a circumferential grooveprovided with a perforation, of a releasing-strip seated in said grooveand having a hook at its inner end which engages the perforation of saidgroove, whereby the inner end ofsaid strip is detachably held, the otherend of said strip projecting between the body In this and closure to theexterior of the can and seated in a groove formed in the exterior of theside of the can and extending obliquely to the plane of saidcircumferential groove, said end terminating in a finger-loop, the sideof the can being also provided at its exterior with a groovecorresponding to the shape of said finger-loop and communicating withthe oblique groove, the finger-loop being seated in said groove toposition said loop and the extremity of the releasing-strip beneath thesurface of the side of the can-body and thereby not interfere withapplication of labels to the body.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

SETH L. SHELDON.

Witnesses:

J. WILL TREE, FRED H. SMITH.

